Showdown on the Korean Peninsula shows the value of not appeasing dictators

Just hours before it took place North Korea threatened to launch an attack on South Korea if the military exercise Yeonpyeong Island went ahead as scheduled yesterday.

The exercise was a response to the unprovoked shelling of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea in November, in which  four people were killed.

The belligerent dictatorship of Kim Jong-Il has been distinguished by threats and provocations, including the torpedoing of a South Korean ship in April that caused the deaths of 46 South Korean sailors.

The mad little dictator and nuclear proliferate seemed to think that he could bully the West into easing sanctions with threats. He might even have succeeded, since there are many in the West who haven't learned the lessons about the appeasement of dictators from fascist era of the 1930s.

Dictators and fanatics only see appeasement as a sign of weakness and are emboldened by such behavior.

But like most bullies, when confronted, they usually back down and that was precisely what Korea's Little Kim did yesterday when South Korea went ahead with its scheduled maneuvers.

Now, if only Obama would grow a backbone and take the same stand with the maniacs who rule in Iran.